Personal flotation devices, particularly those designed as a vest or jacket, are known in the art and have been used for some time. Similarly, safety and rescue harnesses of various types have been used to secure an individual to a line so the individual will be caught if he falls, or to pull an individual into the air, for example, when rescued from the water by a helicopter.
There are times when an individual wearing a personal flotation device requires the use of a rescue line. Where the flotation device does not incorporate a rescue harness, the job of the rescue worker who must use the rescue line can be particularly difficult. He or she must somehow place the harness around the individual in peril, directly over the flotation device. This can be difficult due to the bulkiness of many personal flotation devices and can take considerable time. Moreover, serious damage to the flotation device can result when the individual is lifted from the water. The harness can cut into, tear, deform, or otherwise destroy the integrity of the flotation device.
Alternatively, the rescue worker can first struggle to remove the personal flotation device and then place the harness directly around the victim. Obviously this can be difficult, particularly if the victim is uncooperative. Again, precious time can be lost.
For these and other reasons, attempts have been made to combine both a personal flotation device and a safety or rescue harness. Such a device is desirable whenever an individual might need to be rescued from the water by means of a line. The personal flotation aspects of such a device would allow safety around water and the ease and comfort of a vest, jacket, or other garment-style design. The built-in harness would facilitate the potential rescue operation. However, the combination flotation and harness devices which have been available to date are generally unsatisfactory.
In many cases where a harness is installed in a flotation product, the harness is stitched or otherwise attached to the flotation device in such a way that the flotation device is damaged when a rescue line is attached and the individual is pulled from the water. For example, in many cases the harness is installed on the outer surface of the flotation device. In such a case, serious damage to the device can occur if the harness is ever used. The weight of the individual being pulled by the line creates a tremendous amount of stress on the harness. This stress can cause the harness to cut into, deform or otherwise damage the flotation device, jeopardizing or even destroying its flotation aspects. In addition, rupture, tearing or other damage frequently occurs in the areas where the harness is attached to the device. These areas are particularly strained when the harness must be used.
Even those flotation devices which incorporate a safety harness on the inside surface, rather than on the outside, are generally unsatisfactory. In these devices, the harness is typically attached to the device by stitching, riveting, or other means whereby stress on the harness pulls on the entire product. This can weaken or tear the fabric or seams, impair the flotation aspect or otherwise damage the device, particularly in the areas where the harness is actually attached to the device.
The present invention provides a safety harness and flotation device designed and constructed so that both the harness and flotation aspects can be utilized repeatedly without damage to or a negative effect upon the other. The device has sufficient integrity to easily and repeatedly support the weight of an individual being pulled into the air by a line properly attached to the harness, and generally will not be damaged by such use. It is believed that the device is particularly suitable for use by any person in a potentially dangerous situation where there exists the need or potential need for both a flotation device and a safety or rescue harness. Such users could include off-shore oil workers, ship or shipyard workers, military personnel, and so on, as well as recreational users such as hikers and the like.